Pam Harris Nomination Moves Forward in Senate

Yesterday, the Senate voted to move forward on the nomination of Pamela Harris to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A confirmation vote is scheduled for 5:30 pm on Monday. Harris is an exceptionally well-qualified nominee who has broad support [PDF] throughout the legal community and from her home-state Senators. In addition, she received a unanimous “Well-Qualified” [PDF] rating from the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. Moreover, this highly qualified nominee would increase the diversity of the Fourth Circuit, and the federal bench more generally: she would only be the sixth woman ever to sit on the Fourth Circuit, and if confirmed, the percentage of active female Court of Appeals judges overall would reach almost 35 percent.